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Fully annotated list available here.

Top Music of 2008
11. ACϟDC- Black Ice
10. My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges
9. DeVotchKa- A Mad and Faithful Telling
8. Coldplay- Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
7. Santogold- Santogold
6. Colin Meloy- Colin Meloy Sings Live!
5. Girl Talk- Feed the Animals
4. The Hold Steady- Stay Positive
3. Mates of State- Re-Arrange Us
2. Flight of the Conchords- Flight of the Conchords
1. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes

Top 3 ZZ Top Members
3. The one without the beard
1. (tie) The two with the beards

Among the massive amount of new music I enjoyed in ‘08, most came from artists that were new to me, and by most accounts, would be considered new artists. But when it comes to picking my favorite 10 of the year, my tastes still trend toward established acts that consistently produced stellar work and generally did nothing to hurt their legacies.

When trying to narrow this down to the 10 I’d consider among my favorites, I ended up with some ties, which allowed me to add a few more to the list.

Without further ado, in mostly alpha order, here are my current 21 favorite records for the annual top 10:

10. Annie - Don’t Stop
Ding-a-ding-a-ding-dingdingding. I’m not a 16 year old girl, and have never been a big fan of either bubblegum or club dance, but this album is just fun to listen to, great to run to, and is sure to get a party going (at least at breakfast time for my kids).

9a. Beck - Modern Guilt
His 2008 collaboration w/ Danger Mouse makes sense. This record didn’t grab me as fast as The Information, but it’s still the same brand of hip, groovy music and you are drawn in with repeated listens.

9b. The Black Crowes - Warpaint
I love this album, it has among the highest listen counts on my iPod in 08. Adding a new guitarist, former North Mississippi Allstar, Luther Dickinson, has helped polish things up for them. Have they found the light? God’s Got It, Wee Who See The Deep and Walk Believer Walk have undeniable soul, and other tracks that slowly build into southern rock anthems, from Whoa Mule to Movin on Down the Line are so easy to enjoy it still surprises me. This band is continuing to evolve and improve.

8 a. Black Keys - Attack and Release
Danger Mouse shows up again on my list, this time helping to produce some of this duo’s spaciest and fullest sounds ever.

8b. Blitzen Trapper - Fur
My first experience w/ this band has compelled me to explore their catalog further. This is a terrific record with a good classic rock feel. Their influences (Neil, Grateful Dead, Jackson Browne, et al) are communicated well in their own sound w/out sounding like a rip-off.

8c. Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
This guy is 72 years old, and his wonderful guitar still sounds absolutely monstrous. This record is chock-full-o guest artists, which is something I usually don’t care for, but Buddy stands out on nearly each track, regardless of whether he’s playing next to Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, Susan Tedeschi or Robert Randolph.

7a. Coldplay - Viva la Vida
I don’t listen to mainstream rock radio much, so I didn’t suffer from overkill on this record. But regardless, it’s the best record in their catalog. They should always work with Brian Eno.

7b. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
I will freely admit that I didn’t care for most of the Bright Eyes work he did (as if anyone cares), but I like most of this record. Good alt-country rock when he’s not getting too cute on some throwaway tracks like Valle Mistico. Sausalito is a catchy # that gets stuck in my head from time to time.

6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
My favorite new band of the year. Enough has been written about them already. If you haven’t heard this yet (which I find surprising), then find a copy and do so.

5a. Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
Lindsey experienced a renaissance this year as he reunited w/ his old Fleetwood Mac rhythm section. This is vintage Mac.

5b. Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
Another guy who got together w/ old bandmates, Petty produced a terrific record from front to back w/ his old buddies from eff-ell-ay.

5c. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
They keep the momentum going in 08. The fact that they were able to follow my favorite record in their collection (Z) with another solid outing this year was very nice indeed.

4a. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
Benom alerted my to the fact that this was reissued. Since I never heard it upon its first release in 1977, I’m considering it a new record. And Brian Wilson’s little brother produced a terrific record, far superior to That Lucky Old Sun (BW’s own new release this year).

4b. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One
The one that first got me was her ‘06 EP, Worldwide Underground. I didn’t like this one quite as much as WU, which was really a full-length record, but this is still a terrific outing from my favorite soul systah.

3a. Sloan - Parallel Play
These Cannucks make it look so easy; they just keep cranking out great Beatle-esque pop and rock songs every other year without fail.

3b. Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away. I prefer ’04’s In Exile Deo just a touch, but overall, she keeps getting better - looking and sounding.

3c. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue. Amazing record.

2a. Little Joy - Another Strokes guy turns out another Strokes-like record. I am forced to recant my potshot at The Strokes in last year’s Albert Hammond review.

2b. The M’s - Real Close Ones
Love the mix of swinging, Stones-style brass and psychedelic, Marc Bolan-style fuzzd out guitars and vocal stylings.

1a. The Week That Was - Self-Titled. I like this more than School of Language. The first song on this record has a Peter Gabriel influence that is good. And it generally gets better from there w/ other good 70s and 80s avant-garde and classic rock sounds.

1b. Paul Weller - 22 Dreams. Modfather’s first double album was a winnah.

Honorable Mentions (only 16 on this list):

Annuals - Such Fun: as the name of the record implies, this is fun orchestral pop
Black Kids - Partie Traumatic: This falls into the Annie category - an album that is just plain fun to listen, and one that provides decent accompaniment on a jog or bike ride, especially the title track and Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo).
Deerhunter - Microcastle. I was vaguely familiar w/ Bradford Cox before this record, mostly because of the entertainment industry’s fascination with his disease, Marfan syndrome. But any media attention on their music is deserved. They make some pretty noise rock.
DJ/rupture - My favorite electronica record of the year.
Dr. Dog - Fate. If I only had more time to listen, it may have made my top 21/10. I’m a sucker for this classic rock sound.
Fujiya & Miyagi - Lightbulbs. Another one that ended up high on the ‘listen count’, mostly because it’s so easy to put on in the office and just let play. Easy, but funky enough to be fun and cool.
Guns n Roses -Chinese Democracy. Inspite of his best efforts (this is Axl’s best record since Appetite for Destruction), all of his paranoid fears come true as the media line up to take potshots at him, mocking him for the decision to market exclusively via BestBuy, for the decision to delay this for a whole generation of music fans before releasing, for his hermit-like tendencies, and for his inability to recreate a once-in-a-lifetime record like Appetite, no matter how hard he worked. Regardless, it was a decent record. It rawked.
High Places - self-titled full-length debut is spacey. For high places.
Islands - Arm’s Way. No matter if the lead singer is a DB, as many seem to believe, this is a solid effort. Lots of good guitar.
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III. Weezy sure does feel big. And not in the sense of colossal, either.
Lykke Li - I’m Good, I’m Gone is a cool tune, great video.
R.E.M. - Accelerate. Good comeback for these guys. They nearly lost their pulse w/ their last couple records. They remembered what drums, electric guitars and amplifiers are for in 2008.
Santogold - Santogold. Santi White and John Hill made a good party record; I like their fun and sometimes ribald attitude.
She & Him - Vol. 1. Cute as a button actress Zoey D reincarnates Patsy Cline.
Throw Me the Statue - Moonbeams. Lolita was possibly my favorite car tune of the year. Very catchy stuff; fun listening.
Van She - V. If you were ever forced to listen to Australian modern dance rock, this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Records I meant to listen to but didn’t enough to be able to weigh in w/ any thoughts:
The Firemen (Paul McCartney)
Mellencamp’s Life, Death, Love and Freedom
Supergrass’ Diamond Hoo Ha
Susan Tedeschi’s Back to the River

10. M83 - Saturdays= Youth
Every time I listen I think I’m living in a 1980s John Hughes teenage comedy. And I like that. Because I like those movies.

9. Coldplay - Viva la Vida
I hate that I loved this album as much as I did. X/Y was such a steaming pile of horse crap that I wasn’t going to give Viva la Vida much thought, but I got into it and it got into me.

8. Pas/Cal - I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke & Laura
In 2008 I finally accepted my favored genre of music–indie pop. I like it above all others, and Pas/Cal really cemented this decision for me.

7. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Dear Science, gave me something different than all of their previous efforts, and it wasn’t an itchy, burning sensation. They still know how to layer on the sound, but this one is more upbeat, a departure from the gloomy drone of their previous efforts, and I like it.

6. Flight of the Conchords - Self-Titled
I’m sure there’s a technicality that says that this is a soundtrack, but I say eff those who defy my decision to place this album of original music on my Top Ten.

5. Los Campesinios! - Hold on Now, Youngster
Again, indie pop, this time from Wales. It invades and infects my every being. I listen to it everywhere and as a result, I am always happy.

4. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
There were several reasons I completed the Chicago Marathon, but this album will always be the one I had on repeat during my 5 AM “long runs” every Saturday.

3. Vampire Weekend - Self-Titled
Yes, they are the original online buzz band of 2007 (how incredibly Year of the Magician of me), but they’re indie and poppy nurd-rock and it’s a pleasure listening to this album. Plus they were so accessible that my wife got into them too.

2. David Byrne/Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
It is always a delight to hear these two legends together and to know that neither of them have died yet. Everything That Happens… give us Eno’s haunting sounds with Byrne’s pop aesthetic that reminds me of his Talking Heads days. “Strange Overtones” is also my pick for song of the year.

1. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
From start to finish, I love this album. I get absolutely lost in each song and often have difficulty telling where one ends and the next one begins (that may have something to do with the way I ripped this CD to play in my car). Amidst the weird psych-synth, there are a smorgusborg of pop-hooks that grab my ears and keep me listening.

High-fives all around.

Syndicated from your favorite Howie-penned blog and mine, CancerMan, here are Howard’s top 10 albums of the year.

Ok, here goes nothing: my list of top albums for 2008. A few caveats that bear repeating. One: I like music that rocks. There is plenty of interesting, artsy bands out there that are creating great music, but I’m not into the “beta band” thing, to borrow a phrase from my boy Beno. The other thing worth mentioning is that about 90 percent of the time in which I am listening to music, I am doing so while running (the other 10 percent is while traveling), and generally when I run I prefer music that has a more aggressive, faster beat. Thus, “slow” music doesn’t end up being terribly high on my list(s).

Anyway, with that being said and without further ado, I present to you:

10. Guns n Roses, Chinese Democracy

I don’t care what the critics say (you will find this to be a recurring sentiment in this post), this album is solid, and I find myself going to it with increasing frequency. Yes, it’s a bit overproduced, yes it is a bit over the topic in terms of its ambition, but Axl has a voice like no other and several songs on this album absolutely rock and are up there with some of his earlier classics. I think it’s easy to cast aspersion given how long it took, which I agree is a bit of a joke, but just focusing on the record itself, one has to admit it’s pretty darn good. Plus, Pitchfork hated it, which is so utterly predictable yet makes me like it even more.

9. Kanye West, 808’s & Heartbreak

Ok, two very important caveats. One: I have owned this album for less than 24 hours. Two: I think Kanye is a pompous, arrogant ass. I find him and his self indulgent antics borderline despicable. That being said, as stated above, I think you have to judge an artist singularly on his/her merits, and guess what: this album is amazing. I listened to it straight through during my two hour run today and then I immediately listened to it again, which is something I never, ever do. This album is interesting, inventive and unlike nearly anything I have heard this year. I suspect with the benefit of more time, this one could have moved even higher on my list.

8. The Bug, London Zoo

This is hard to explain. I am not entirely in love with this album per se but I do admire it’s ambition. I find dubstep to be very interesting; perhaps the most interesting new genre to emerge over the past several years. This is one reason why I had Burial on my list last year, and I think The Bug’s London Zoo is an even better effort. It’s got a heavier reggae beat, which appeals and it’s very listenable, particularly if you are in a dark mood or find yourself running on a track in the dark of night.

7. Blitzen Trapper, Furr

The critics loved this one (Pitchfork gave it an 8.5) and for good reason: it’s wildly eclectic, has a good sense of continuity throughout and it touches on multiple genres. It also features what might possibly be my song of the year: Black River Killer. If you are afraid to try the entire album, buy this track. The other thing I like about this album is that I keep discovering new elements; it is most definitely a “grower.”

6. Coldplay, Viva La Vida

I don’t care if I catch flack for this one. Much like Kanye, yes, Chris Martin is a bit of a tool, and yes, I agree that they are unoriginal and somewhat derivative, but you know what? They make awfully good, listenable songs that are arguably timeless (though I guess only time will tell if that statement holds true). Fact is, they are today’s “Supergroup”" for good reason; they keep putting out solid material. And while I am at it, their accompanying EP, Prospekts March, is also pretty darn good in its own right.

5. Deerhunter, Microcastle

One of those bands that I don’t know a lot about and find hard to describe, but I know that my favorite artists are ones who get me on first listen and this one grabbed me at the outset. Their lead singer, Brandon Cox, strikes me as one seriously talented — and interesting — dude. This is another one of those albums, similiar to Blitzen Trappen, that continually reveals itself with successive listens.

4. Frightened Rabbit, The Modern Leper

I think this is Beno’s favorite album of the year so I will let him describe this one: he could do it far greater justice. LIke a lot of Scottish bands, they have a lot of soul yet at the same time are pretty rocking. In certain respects, they remind me of 60’s mod bands, ala The Jam. Every song on this one is good. It’s just a flat out enjoyable listen, all the way through.

3. The Killers, Day & Age

I don’t understand why the critics ripped Sam’s Town and I don’t understand why they were so hard on this one either. Yes, Brandon can at times fall into the Chris Martin, Kanye West school of tools, but there’s no denying he creates catchy pop songs. I love that this one is an homage to the 80’s, and it’s, dare I say, a fun and light album that gets eminently better with each successive listen. Even my six year old, who’s boasting her very own ipod Nano, is singing songs from this one and I don’t necessarily thing that’s a bad thing.

2. TV on the Radio, Dear Science

The critics were right about this one: it straight up rocks, it’s inventive annd it grabs you from the outset and never lets go. I believe that these guys have the potential to become as popular as they want to: in certain ways, they remind me when I saw U2 play back in the early 80’s. Note there music isn’t even remotely comparable, but I knew when i saw U2 that they would ultimately be an important band and I feel the same way about TVOTR.

1. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals

This probably isn’t the “best” album of the year: I would probably defer that to TVOTR, above, but in my opinion, it is certainly the most fun. I declared this my album of the year when I first heard it about six months ago, and haven’t heard anything since to change my mind. I never even heard of this dude before getting this album and it blew my mind upon first listen. It’s completely original yet in an unoriginal kind of way: it melds together countless songs from the sixties to today’s raps and even as it crosses genres and generations, its transitions are utterly seamless. I can see myself going back to this one years from now, which makes it my “winner.”

A special shout out goes to several others that didn’t make the cut, but were definitely noteworthy, including Cut Copy, Helio Sequence, MIA, Beck, Santogold, DJ Rupture, Metallica, Fleet Foxes and KInds of Leon.

10. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

I probably would have put this higher earlier in the year. That’s until I realized I only listened to it while running. It still makes my top ten though on pure awesomeness. I think much of that opinion is tied to my fantasy of walking into a club, throwing this album on and pretending to be actually D.J.ing.

9. Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams

Moonbeams makes sure that no matter the mood you’re in, once you’ve hit the third track, you’ll be feeling pretty good about things. Of course there’s more to this album but it’s the first half that makes it great.

8. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood

It took me a long time to enjoy this album. I’d reckon this is the slowest “creeper” album I’ve ever come across. That said, I knew it was beautiful when I first listened to it. You might want to take some time to figure out why you should care.

7. School Of Language - Sea From Shore

At first, there is no way this could be listenable and then the drums bust in. This is just a really cool experiment that went incredibly well. If you can get past the weirdness, this one’s a beauty,

6. TV On The Radio -Dear Science

This will be many people’s best of the year and I know why. There weren’t too many albums that were great all the way through. I liked this album much better than their previous effort so I was shocked when I enjoyed it as much as I did.

5. Plants And Animals -Parc Avenue

I’m not sure why this one is being missed so much in other lists. Even with their best song on an EP (Lola Who?) and somehow not making the album cut, this album really builds a repertoire of songs that are driven as much as melodic. Another Canadian wonderband.

4. French Kicks - Swimming

I’d never heard of these guys before this album although they have apparently been around for a while. I knew I loved this album the second the Bass kicked in on “Abandon” and I began searching the room for where the noise came from.

3. Dr. Dog - Fate

Perhaps there is no more surefire crowd-pleaser on this list than Dr. Dog. It’s sweeping and accessible without over-indulgence and, ultimately, repeatedly listenable. Or the exact opposite of that last sentence.

2. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Yeah, this was on my list last year as well but now it’s official. There is a weird thing about VW. You either really love them or just don’t like them at all. At least, in my experiences playing them for people. I haven’t come across one person who was on the fence about them. I, for one, consider it one of the best albums of this decade let alone the past two years, and this is my list so I’m the only one who matters.

1. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight

I’m not sure I can express how much I love this album. Seriously, everything about it. This too is a polarizing album for the first time listener although I can understand why some are put off at first. Scott Hutchinson’s vocals are not your everyday radio style. Just give it time though. Listen to the lyrics. That wailing isn’t just wailing for wailing’s sake.

It’s really too bad these guys will likely never get mainstream play. There are at least 3 singles on this album that could appeal to the WXRT crowd. Interestingly, I have heard them used on TV shows (Chuck) to fantastic effect. The build up in many of their songs lends itself well to climatic moments in film. Example? Even cut to shit “Keep Yourself Warm” works great here.

Thanks for the best album of the year FR. I look forward to seeing you in January.

Some honorable mentions: James - Hey Ma (Nice comeback guys), Islands - Arm’s Way, The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me, M83 - Saturdays=Youth, The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns (Recent acquisition but may have made it to the top ten with more time. Same for the following). Finally, I hate to say it but Kanye West - 808’s and Heartbreak. Way to go Kanye. Respek.

UPDATE!

Wow. I’m embarassed. We’ll have to make this a top eleven because I just realized I left off one of my top 3. The Helio Sequence should slide in there at number 2. I somehow skipped over it when making my final list. Talk about an oversight.

1a. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

There isn’t a slow part of this album. And what I mean by “slow” is that every song is important. No throw-ins or throw-aways and an instant classic for me. There has never been a more optimistic song than “Lately”.

Benom’s Top 10 of 2008

10. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
9. Human Highway, Moody Motorcycle
8. Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
7. Kings of Leon, Only By the Night
6. Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us
5. Deerhunter, Microcastle
4. Throw Me The Statue, Moonbeams
3. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
2. Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
1. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): If these records had been released earlier, or if it was top 20 instead of top 10, they would surely have made the list…

Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
Born Ruffians, Red Yellow & Blue
TV on the Radio, Dear Science
School of Seven Bells, Alpinisms
Ratatat, LP3
Portishead, Third
Dr. Dog, Fate
David Byrn and Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours

Finally, not on the list based merely on principle as opposed to how much I actually enjoyed the records (which is thoroughly for all three):

The Killers, Day & Age
Kanye West, 808s & Heartbreak
Coldplay, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

1 - School of Language, Sea From Shore
How did I not get into Field Music while they were still together? The Week That Was got more press, and it was good as well, but this album appealed to me on many more levels. Basically, it was catchy, brainy, and just clearly the best thing I heard all year.

2- Fleet Foxes
Not sure why, but when I 1st heard these guys on MP3 I just thought they were alright. Then I saw ‘em live and they really charmed me, in addition to recommending Radio Lab podcasts (which I listened to more of in 2008 than any album). Anyway, I ended up getting the record on vinyl, and it is the best sounding record of the year for me. Those harmonies really hit the sweet spot on my brain, and hearing them on vinyl really brings it out. If you don’t own a record player this album is as good a reason as any to buy one.

3- Deerhunter, Microcastles / Weird Era Cunt.
These guys are incredibly derivative, but they do it so fucking well that I don’t mind. The songs here are so catchy that if Bradford Cox doesn’t break up the band first, I could see Deerhunter getting HUGE.

4 - Nudity, Nightfeeders
There are 21.x minutes but only one song on each side of this record. It makes me want to use words like “awesomest” and “awwwuggg”. It also makes me want to take drugs. I like albums that do that.

5 - SM & the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
Yet again, I feel obliged to mention that I’m not a die-hard Pavement fan who loves everything Malkmus does. Frankly, his performance at p-fork fest AND Face the Truth were both pretty disappointing. However, this album was full of jams, and certainly appeals more to the retired hippie in me than to the indie music fan. Also, I’m a drummer, so Janet Weiss’ performance obviously helped keep me interested.

6 - Max Tundra, Paralax Error Beheads You
For me, this was 2008’s most anticipated follow up. It did not disappoint. I was reading Godel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid when this came out, and, among many other things, that book explores whether the program or the programmer should get credit for composing music in the case that a computer program writes an original piece. Well, Max Tundra does use a lot of programming in his music, but what’s produced bears such a distinct fingerprint of Max Tundra that Ben Jacobs clearly deserves the credit here.

7- Blitzen Trapper, Furr
Y’know, the lyrics on this album kinda blow, but the songs kept me coming back. Call it a guilty pleasure if you will, but those are often the best kind.

8 - Walkmen, You & Me
I really enjoyed the boozy tone of this record. There were some very good songs, but more so I got into the way this record makes a room feel like everyone’s up too late after too much to drink. I certainly don’t enjoy everything these guys put out, and they seem really annoying in interviews, but for this one I’ll tip my hat.

9 - Pas/Cal, I Was Raised On…
A great batch of songs from a band I all but gave up on after an aggravating sartorial display at Double Door that totally outshined their music. Funny then, that I really liked the song that mourns the coming of summer, because it will infringe on their wardrobe (and funnier still that I can sympathize).

10 - Nomo, Ghost Rock. Born Ruffians, Red, Yellow & Blue. School of Seven Bells, Alpinisms. Brightblack Morning Light, Motion to Rejoin. Shearwater, Rook. Bonnie Prince Billy, Lay Down In Light. Erykah Badu, New Amerkah. Jay Reatard’s gaggle of releases, Byrne & Eno’ colabo…

Helio Sequence kept going on & coming off of this list. I really loved some of the songs on this album, but the acoustic tracks just weighed the whole thing down for me, so in the end it’s an honorable mention.

Color Music was a very late discovery for me this year - too late to make the list as it has yet to sink in. Check back for a review soon.

God damn if Plush’s Fed (reissued this year) isn’t still brilliant, and if just about everything Numero Group put out wasn’t as good as most everything listed above. also, I got seriously into Moondog, Alexander Spence, & Mott the Hoople this year, but they aren’t new so…

Also, I’ve watched 4 seasons of The Wire since starting the series in August. Finishing season 5 will no doubt be bitter sweet

Tune back in on Monday when the RTP’ers will each be posting his or her picks for the BO2k8. We’re sure to have some overlap with those other sites, but we’re also sure to mention some stuff they missed.

See you Monday

Visiting my favorite relatives in the world here in the Twin Cities for the holidays. Even more snow and cold than Chi-town.

One near-saving grace is the good public radio station, The Current (FM 89.3).

I wish Chicago’s NPR could get its act together and launch a station like this.

Yes, we DO have Tony Serabia and Peter Margasak’s incredible 1/2 hour of Radio M each week, plus DeRo and Kot’s Sound Opinions (gotta set the alarm for that), but only college radio in Chicago compares to The Current.

This is inspired.

http://hirejimessian.com/2008/12/07/winter-meetings-preview/